


for the binding and the breaking

by RoyalHeather



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Blindfolds, F/M, Light Bondage, Penis In Vagina Sex, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Porn with Feelings, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Sex as Therapy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-06
Updated: 2017-12-06
Packaged: 2019-02-11 06:55:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12929907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoyalHeather/pseuds/RoyalHeather
Summary: It starts with a chance remark, like so many things. “Honestly, Percy,” remarks Vex one afternoon, after he’s spent the entire day moving feverishly from library to workshop and back again. “One of these days I’m going to just tie you down and make you relax.”Percy turns scarlet, fingers stuttering on the pages of a book. “I beg your pardon?”--Percy's encounter with Dr. Ripley has left him with more than just physical scars. With Vex's help, he wants to take back a little something of his own, but recovery is never quite a straight shot.





	for the binding and the breaking

**Author's Note:**

> I am not a licensed therapist. Don't try this at home.

It starts with a chance remark, like so many things. “Honestly, Percy,” remarks Vex one afternoon, after he’s spent the entire day moving feverishly from library to workshop and back again. “One of these days I’m going to just tie you down and _make_ you relax.”

Percy turns scarlet, fingers stuttering on the pages of a book. “I beg your pardon?”

“Relax, darling, I was just making a joke.” Vex crosses one leg over the other, watching Percy from her perch in an armchair. But Percy remains glowing red, and Vex raises an eyebrow. “Unless you’d rather I wasn’t?”

With a sigh, Percy returns the book he was holding to its place on the shelf. “It’s… complicated.”

Her poor Percy, everything’s complicated with him. “Come here,” she says, patting her lap. “Tell me about it.”

Percy crosses over and sits down on her, hugging her close. For a moment he does nothing except sigh and press his face into her hair. “Do you like it?” Vex probes, gently. “Being tied up in bed?”

“I’m, uh – I’m actually not sure,” Percy admits. “I’ve never actually had it done. But I used to, ah, fantasize about it. When I was younger.”

Generally when Percy says “when I was younger,” he means “before the Briarwoods.” “And then what happened?” Vex asks, gently.

Percy sighs again, deep displeasure on his face. “Doctor Ripley happened,” he mutters. “After she had me tied down, to torture me… That’s all I can think of, now. I’ve tried, but any time I get too far, all I can think about is _her._ ” His voice is thick with disgust, both at Ripley and himself, and Vex rubs his arm sympathetically.

“I hate it,” says Percy bluntly. “She’s dead, and I’m alive, and she’s still taking things from me.”

“It doesn’t have to be that way,” says Vex softly, and some of the hard lines in Percy’s face mellow. “I’m not an expert by any means, but perhaps if we replaced those bad memories with good ones…?”

Percy considers, leaning into the side of the chair; his weight on Vax’s thighs is starting to make one of her legs go numb. “I might be willing to try,” he says, slowly, and turns a speculative look on Vex. “I don’t know what would happen, though.”

“Well, we’ll take it slow,” promises Vex, looking up into his eyes. Gods, but she does love this man, and a sharp urge to protect him, to keep him safe and hers, flares up inside her. “All right, darling? Only if you want to, of course.”

“I do,” Percy admits, flushing again. “Or at least, I think I do.” He looks down at his lap, and Vex twines her fingers through his. “It’s hard to tell, sometimes.”

“I know,” says Vex, and kisses him on the cheek. “We’ll start small.”

\--

Percy is kneeling on their bed, shirtless, hands in front of him. The room is warm and well-lit – Vex made sure of that – and in the glow of amber lamps on the wall Percy’s hair is like spun gold, light gleaming on his many scars.

“Hey,” says Vex, climbing over the foot of the bed to sit in front of him, and arranges the blue silk of her robe around her. Percy manages a little smile; he can’t quite hide how his hands are twitching. “How are you?”

“Nervous,” admits Percy, with an apologetic tilt to his eyebrows. “Trying not to be, though.”

Smiling reassuringly, Vex takes his hands in hers, rubbing with her thumbs until the shaking lessens. “It’s all right, darling, I’ve got you.”

That gets a little shamefaced laugh out of him and Vex keeps caressing his hands. “Sorry,” says Percy. “I don’t know why I’m like this…”

“It’s not your fault,” murmurs Vex.

“Mm.”

She moves on to his wrists, rubbing along his ivory skin. Percy sighs, air  brushing over her hands, his head tilted down so Vex can see the soft waves of his hair, his long eyelashes, the curve of his lower lip. Moving slowly and deliberately, she unties the sash from her waist and wraps it around his wrists, the soft turquoise silk catching on her callused fingers. It’s a pretty image, she has to admit, the sash and her hands and his, blue and brown and white, all tinged with gold. “How’s this?” she asks.

“Actually not that bad.” Percy sounds faintly surprised, and he glances up at Vex with a smile on the corner of his mouth. Impulsively, she leans in and kisses that smile, Percy’s hands cupped in her own.

Percy sighs into her, kissing her back. It’s slow and gentle and gradually the trembling in his fingers disappears. Pulling back, Vex rubs her thumbs over his knuckles, over scarred patches from powder burns. “Want to keep going?”

“Yeah,” says Percy, smile widening into a crooked grin, and this time his hands twist to grip hers, pulling her in for another kiss. Vex shimmies onto his lap and they end up pressed together, hands between their chests; Percy’s knuckles brush her breasts, and his heart pounds rapidly under the back of her hands. With her thighs straddling his hips, Vex lifts Percy’s arms up and over her so his bound hands press into the small of her back. “I could get used to this, actually,” he says, tugging her closer.

“That’s the idea,” murmurs Vex, and then she’s kissing him, hands flat on his chest, her torso flush against his. His heart beats faster, a delicate blush rising over his cheeks and collarbone. Percy’s face is a wealth of textures, the satin-smoothness of his lips, the gritty stubble along his jaw, the feathery brush of his eyelashes on her cheeks. Parting her lips, Vex slips her tongue up against his; Percy moves to grab her around the waist but is abruptly stopped by the binding on his wrists and freezes with a sharp intake of breath –

Vex pauses as well. “Percy?”

He’s looking down at a point beyond her left shoulder, sudden tension in the line of his jaw. “I’m all right.”

He’s not. Vex watches him intently, tracing her fingers over the planes of his face, trying to ease him. “Darling, we can stop if you want to.”

Sighing, Percy tilts his head so his forehead touches hers, eyelids fluttering shut. And then in a sudden movement he yanks her up against him, crushing his lips against Vex’s. Wrapping her arms around his shoulders for leverage, Vex kisses him back. With the sash gone, the front of her robe falls open and her bare skin against Percy’s is rapidly warming, heat bleeding over from him to her.

Percy’s hands are shaking again.

“ _Percy,_ ” says Vex, breaking away. He tries to follow with a dazed look in his eyes, lips flushed, but Vex stops him with a hand on his chin. “You’re not all right.”

“I am,” he says through gritted teeth.

“No, you’re not.” Reaching behind her, Vex picks at the silk knot until the sash falls away. Percy’s shoulders drop with unmistakable relief and he leans his head into her shoulder, breathing heavy. His arms wrap around her waist, which is a good sign, and Vex holds him close, rubbing at his back. The ropy scars on his shoulder are fever-hot.

“There,” whispers Vex, and Percy shudders and sighs. “There, it’s all right. You’re with me.”

Percy huffs out a breath, slumping into her. “Sorry.”

“ _Darling._ ” Vex kisses him on the temple, rocks him a little, and Percy lets out an embarrassed chuckle. “It’s fine.”

“Argh,” says Percy, and responds with a kiss to her neck before sitting up. “I’m not giving this up yet, you know.”

“I never said you were.” Vex carefully smooths back his hair. “Do you still want to have sex?”

“God, yes,” says Percy, and cups her face in his hand for a solid kiss before pulling a giggling Vex down to the bed with him.

\--

The next time they try, a few days later, goes better, and the time after that goes better still. “What do you think?” asks Vex after they’ve both caught their breath, lying sweaty together in the crumpled sheets. “Is it working?”

Percy frowns up at the underside of their bed canopy, considering. “I think so. I need more information to be sure.”

“Are you going to run tests?” teases Vex, poking him in the ribs. “Collect data? Write down all your results?”

“Very funny.” Percy catches her fingers, bringing them up to his lips to kiss and then nibble at, and Vex taps his nose.

“Are you, though?”

“My dear, if you really want me to start taking notes in the bedroom –”

Vex wrinkles her nose in protest and Percy laughs, rolling over to kiss her. “Please don’t,” she says, when he releases her.

His expression softens as he gazes at her; Vex twines her legs through Percy’s, biting her lip as she considers every detail of Percy’s face. His eyes are gray in the firelight, and the flickering shadows accentuate his hooked nose. “Do you want to take it further?” she asks.

Percy interlaces his fingers through hers. “I do.”

There’s a little bubble of something cold and sharp that’s been hovering in her chest for days, and at the sight of Percy, at the trust on his handsome face, the bubble bursts, releasing words off her tongue. “Percy, I don’t know what I’m doing, not really, I don’t want to hurt you –”

“You won’t hurt me.”

She can’t help the pleading in her voice. “I don’t _mean_ to, but what if I accidentally –”

Percy’s arms loop around her waist, pulling her in until their naked bodies are pressed close together. “Darling, you won’t –”

“But what if I _do –_ ”

He silences her with a kiss, long and sweet, one hand cupping around the back of her head. “Vex’ahlia, I survived Orthax and Ripley and the entire Chroma Conclave, I assure you there is nothing you could do to hurt me,” he says, touching their foreheads together. “All right? I trust you.”

Unaccountably, _stupidly,_ Vex sniffles, and plants a big fucking kiss on Percy’s lips. “I love you,” she says. “I love you _so much –_ ”

“I love you too.” Percy kisses her and looks into her eyes with a smile, thumb tapping her cheekbone. “Without reserve.”

\--

“ _Per-_ cy,” sings Vex, from her boudoir attached to the master bedroom. “Are you _ready_?”

“I do wish you wouldn’t use the voice,” he grumbles. “I know you think it’s endearing, but – _oh_.”

His jaw drops slightly and his eyes widen at the sight of Vex in the boudoir doorway. She smirks and winks, leaning against the door frame, letting the sheer silk fall away to reveal her perfectly-angled leg. “Do you like it?”

Percy has turned the color of sunset, standing frozen over his desk with a book in his hands. “Where did you _get_ it?”

“Zahra gave it to me.” In fact, Zahra had responded in her usual magnificent fashion to Vex’s pleas for advice, sending over not only several pages of tips and instructions, as well as the clothes (the corset alone of elaborately tooled leather must have cost a fortune, never mind the boots and the gauzy robe), but a couple other items that Vex is both excited and slightly scared to try. “You do like it, don’t you?”

“I think – I think you look _incredible,_ ” says Percy, tossing the book aside. “Yes, I like it –” and in three strides he’s crossed the room and seized her face in his hands, kissing her fiercely. Vex sighs and melts into the kiss, winding her arms around his waist, and it’s a solid few minutes before she remembers that she’s supposed to be in control.

“Mm –” she says, extricating herself. “Percy –”

“Yes?” He tucks her flowing locks behind her ears, fingers brushing over the points, and his eyebrows draw together. “What are you planning? There’s mischief in your eyes.”

Vex looks up at him with wide eyes and batting eyelashes. “I’m not planning anything.”

“Yes, you are, now out with it.”

From behind her back she produces the carefully-folded length of rope, silvery-gray and silky-smooth. “Get on your knees,” she commands.

Behind his glasses, Percy blinks at her. “I beg your pardon?”

Rising on tiptoe, Vex puts her mouth to his ear and says, clear and deliberate, “I said, get. On. Your. Knees.”

Percy drops like a stone.

Walking around him, Vex trails her fingers under Percy’s jaw, tilting his gaze up towards her. Vex slides his glasses off, folding them carefully, and steps over to place them on the desk before returning to her man. Percy’s hands are at his sides, and he follows her every movement with his eyes, his pupils wide and dark, his lower lip slack. “Percival,” says Vex, tracing two fingers from his temple to his throat, her nails catching slightly on his skin.

“Vex’ahl –”

She puts her fingers to his lips. “You can talk when I say so, all right?”

Eyes never leaving hers, Percy nods.

Threading her fingers through his hair, Vex leans down and kisses him, tugging his head back to expose his throat. Percy groans slightly, eyes shut. He lets his head fall into her hand, and the heavy weight of it tightens her stomach. “Do you trust me?” she murmurs, pulling on his hair.

“Yes,” says Percy, husky.

Vex starts working on his neckcloth, untying the knot and pulling the fabric aside, and Percy’s neck bobs as he swallows hard. “Are you going to do whatever I say?”

Shifting restlessly, Percy swallows again, eyelids fluttering, but he doesn’t say anything. “Answer the question,” demands Vex, grabbing his jaw.

His gaze snaps up to hers, steely blue. “Yes,” Percy manages.

“Take off your shirt.”

Percy strips off his vest and shirt in quick, efficient movements, baring smooth skin and ragged scars. Running a length of the rope between her fingers, Vex circles him, running an eye over the curve of his back, the points of his shoulderblades, the lines of his arms. “Hands behind your back,” she orders.

A shiver ripples across Percy’s shoulders as he complies, and when Vex kneels behind him she sees goosebumps on his forearms. “All right?” she whispers in his ear, stroking down his arm.

“Yeah,” breathes Percy.

Vex mouths at his neck, nipping, kissing, and Percy leans back into her as his breath grows heavy. At the first touch of the rope on his skin he starts like he’s been shocked. “It’s all right,” murmurs Vex, winding the rope around his wrists. His hands are trembling, but only slightly. “I’m right here.”

Another groan escapes Percy. Vex secures the knot around his wrists, draws the rope up along his back, and he shivers again. Winding her arms around him – Percy is burning-hot to the touch – Vex crosses the rope over his chest, loops it around his waist, draws it back up again over his other shoulder. The silken twist drags against his neck, and Percy makes a stifled noise, his hands clenching.

Vex shifts around so she can see Percy’s face. His cheeks are flushed, sweat starting to shine on his temples, and his eyes are hazy. As she rises to stand in front of him, it takes a moment for his gaze to go up with her, and he exhales shakily, a bulge pressing up in the front of his pants.

It’s new for her to be looking down on Percy like this, at him kneeling at her feet, restrained, and vulnerability pools in the hollows of his collarbone and the curve of his lips. Vex winds the rope through her fingers, tugging slightly, and Percy leans forward with the motion, head dropping sharply. A heady feeling of – of power, of _something_ , rises within Vex, and heat sweeps over her from head to toe.

“Percy,” sings Vex softly, drawing her fingernails over the bared back of his neck, and he shudders. “Look up at me.”

He obeys, and Vex slides her hand around to cup his jaw; she can feel Percy’s breath trembling in his throat. Bending down, Vex presses her lips to his, one hand still keeping tension on the rope. Percy moans into the kiss, and Vex slides her hand around to the back of his neck, holding him close.

“Vex,” gasps Percy.

He’s really shaking now, and Vex kisses him again, trying to reassure. “Relax,” she murmurs, “I got this.”

A strained noise slips out of him, and Vex draws back sharply. Percy’s eyes are half-closed, muscles in his arms and chest tensing, and his breath is growing labored. “Percy!” says Vex, taking his face in her hands, and he _flinches._ “Darling, it’s all right –”

Percy struggles against the ropes, panting, and Vex immediately drops to her knees in front of him. “ _Percy,_ ” she repeats, trying to look him in the eyes, “look, it’s all right, it’s me, you’re fine, it’s okay –”

But he doesn’t see her, or recognize her at least, because he keeps fighting his restraints. Vex scrambles around behind Percy, fumbling at the knots. “Hang on, I’m just going to untie these –”

“No –” says Percy thickly.

Vex freezes. The tendons in his wrists are starkly visible. “No?”

But he’s continuing like he hasn’t heard her, “No, not them, please not them –”

Vex frantically picks at the stupid fucking knots, now _her_ hands are shaking, and it doesn’t help that Percy’s struggling more urgently, rising onto his knees – “There!” she says, pulling away rapidly-widening loops of rope. “It’s all right, it’s off –”

Surging to his feet, Percy nearly knocks Vex over as he stumbles back, hitting the foot of the bed. He tries to yank off the rope still on him, but his hands are shaking so badly he can barely grasp it.

“Here, I got it, it’s – it’s okay –” Vex rushes over to him and tosses aside the last of the rope. Folding his hands in one of hers, she brings his hands to her heart, laying her other hand along his cheek. “Percy. _Percy._ Percival. Look at me. You’re safe.”

Percy finally meets her eyes and his expression is so desperate it breaks her heart. Touching her forehead to his, Vex squeezes his trembling fingers and says softly, “It’s all right. It’s okay.”

With a half-sigh, half-groan Percy leans back into her. Vex kisses his fingers, rubs the back of his neck comfortingly, and together they stand and listen to his breathing gradually gentle and slow.

There’s a mark on his neck, a red line where the rope was – there’s no way Vex pulled the rope tight enough to bruise or burn, but it’s there all the same. “Percy,” she says, voice breaking, “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry –”

“Don’t,” mutters Percy, and drops his head to her shoulder.

The leather corset and boots suddenly feel ridiculous, constricting. Vex struggles with the many straps, furious tears in her eyes, until she can drop the corset to the floor and kick it away along with her boots. Percy’s hands slide around her waist and pulls her in towards him; he’s seated on the footboard of the bed now, legs angled in front of him, and Vex steps in between his legs to get closer, hugging him tight. Running one hand through his hair, Vex draws Percy’s head down to rest on her chest, and he sighs, breath ghosting over her breasts.

“I’m sorry,” says Vex again. “I thought it was going all right –”

Muffled, Percy says. “So did I.”

Vex combs her fingers through the fine, silvery strands of his hair. “What happened?”

Another long sigh precedes Percy’s words. “I couldn’t say. It just… I don’t know. It was fine, until it wasn’t.”

Kissing his hair, Vex holds Percy close, rubs his back. His grip around her waist tightens, hands steadier; the red mark on his neck is fading. “Was it something I did?” Vex asks quietly.

Lifting his head, Percy looks Vex in the eyes, aching and fierce. “It’s not you,” says Percy, firmly. “None of this is your fault. This is because of Doctor fucking Ripley –”

“Yes, but tonight, right now –”

“No.” Reaching up, Percy wipes tears off her cheeks with his thumbs. “I’m not blaming you for anything.”

Vex can’t quite keep the quaver out of her voice when she says, “Yes, but I hurt you –”

“Really, it wasn’t that bad,” says Percy with half a smile. “Uncomfortable, yes, but compared to –”

“Percy, do you know what you said?” Vex interrupts, frowning. It gets him to pause, a perplexed expression on his face. “You said, ‘not them, please not them –’”

“Did I say that?” he says, distantly.

“Yes! And I’m sorry, but if doing this is going to make you think you’re with _Ripley_ or whatever, then I’m not going to continue –”

Percy pulls her in for another hug so suddenly it knocks breath out of her. Folding her arms around him, Vex rests her cheek on Percy’s hair and blinks back fresh tears. “Don’t go anywhere,” says Percy into her neck.

“Darling, I’m not leaving you.”

\--

She wakes in the morning to an empty bed beside her. But Vex isn’t worried, not yet. When she goes into the bath to freshen up, Percy is there, reclined in a gently steaming tub with his eyes closed and his head leaned back on the marble.

His mouth twitches in a brief smile as she slides into the tub opposite him, but his eyes don’t open. “Hello, dearest.”

“Good morning, darling.” Vex slides her legs alongside his, toes pushing up against his thighs. “How did you sleep?”

“Quite soundly, actually.” He finally looks at her, eyes a flash of blue. “What about you?”

Vex shrugs. It had been a night of restless shifting and uneasy dreams of black smoke, until she finally fell solidly asleep towards dawn. “Not too bad.” She scrutinizes Percy, and for all his nonchalant air he doesn’t look particularly well-rested either. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

Dipping a finger in the water, Percy half-smiles. “As all right as I’ll ever be.”

“ _Percy._ ”

Sighing, he covers his face in one hand. “I’ve slept better,” he admits. “But I’ve also slept much, much worse.”

“I don’t want ‘better than much worse,’ I want good.” Vex glares at Percy, nudging his leg with her foot. “You deserve that, at the very least.”

Percy raises a wry eyebrow at her; under the water, his hand seizes her toes, holding them still. “I’m flattered you think so.”

Vex refuses to be goaded. “Yes, I do.”

His fingers wander, caressing under the arch of her foot, around her ankle. “Are you mad at me?”

“No!” The word bursts out of Vex louder than she intended, echoing slightly in the stone room. “No, I’m – I’m mad at myself.”

Percy’s expression turns sympathetic, his hand rubbing her leg. “I told you, it’s not your fault –”

“I was in control, and you trusted me,” persists Vex. “And you were upset. That shouldn’t have happened.”

“It’s not like I didn’t know that was a risk going in,” points out Percy, evenly. “I did give my agreement.”

Vex slides further down in the tub, not knowing what else to do with the guilt curled up in her chest like a small animal. “Yes, but…”

“Yes, but…” mimics Percy, gently. He tugs on her leg and Vex floats over to join him, settling against his chest. “Vex’ahlia, look at me. I’m all right.”

She’s not very successful at keeping the doubt off her face. Percy taps her nose with a wet finger. “Last night didn’t go very well, though, and I don’t want that to happen again,” she says.

“That’s fair.”

Curled up against his chest like this, in the warm water, Vex finds the turmoil fading, if only a little. She rests her head on Percy’s shoulder, traces a finger through the sparse hairs on his chest. His thighs beneath hers are solid, his cock brushing her skin. “Well, I guess that’s the end of it,” she mutters.

“I wouldn’t say that.”

Vex looks up at Percy sharply. He’s watching her with a fond smile on his lips and a light in his eyes. “Did you hear what I just said –”

“No, I heard you, and I agree.” He has his temple propped on one hand, his other settled comfortably on her waist. “I think this last time we went too fast, maybe pushed too quickly. But you know what?”

“What?”

“At first, before it turned south, I liked it. It felt good _,_ it felt right. It felt like something I wanted. And I haven’t wanted many things for a _very_ long time.” 

Affection swells up suddenly inside Vex, a desperate, tender need to hold Percy close and give him everything she can. Rising up, she kisses Percy, water trickling off her shoulders. His hand around her waist tightens, pulling her closer, and with his other he cups her face, lips warm and wet against hers. “I want to give it to you,” whispers Vex, straddling his hips, hands on either side of his neck. “Percy, I want you to feel good, I want you to feel right…”

Percy kisses her again, fervently, and in the quiet room the sounds of their breathing and skin brushing and water lapping at their bodies are loud in Vex’s ears. As she slides her hands down his chest, over wiry muscle and hard ribs, down to the crease of his hips, his cock stirs with interest.  “And what plans do you have for your morning, Lady Vex’ahlia?” he murmurs, lips barely apart from hers.

She shivers as his hands skim over her back under the water, over her rear and thighs. “Nothing I can’t leave for later,” Vex says, and kisses him.

\--

Vex descends the stairs to Percy’s workshop, the heels of her boots loud on the flagstones. The rest of the castle is quiet, most residents having long since gone to bed, and as Vex approaches the double doors she can hear a rhythmic metallic pounding.

“Percy,” says Vex, rapping on the door with her knuckles. “Percy, it’s me.”

No answer, no pause.

Pushing the door open, she steps inside. The room is dark except for the moonlight streaming in from the high hatch-like windows and the orange-red glow of the forge. Percy stands over the anvil with his back to the door, pounding away with a hammer. Slowly, Vex walks over to  him, circling around so she’s not approaching him directly from behind. “Percy,” she says, gently.

He doesn’t even notice her, just keeps banging at the metal object clutched in his tongs –

 _“Percy!_ ”

He stops mid-swing, starting slightly. “How long have you been here?” Percy demands, lowering the hammer.

“Not long.”

Sighing, Percy wipes his face on his shirt sleeve, leaving a smear of sweat and soot. “I’ll be up soon,” he says absently, and resumes hammering. His leather apron and gloves are covered in black dust.

Multiple failed attempts at what looks like a complex interlocking mechanism lie scattered about on the various work surfaces, some more crumpled than others. A plate of food sits untouched on the desk beside Vex – game pie, it looks like – and she pokes at the flaky crust with the fork. “How long have _you_ been here?” she says.

Percy doesn’t respond, just plunges whatever he’s working on into the barrel of water, steam rising up with a hiss around him. “Why yes, Vex, and how was _your_ day?” mutters Vex in her poshest accent, pushing a chunk of meat around on the plate. “How was hunting? Did you catch anything?”

Into the hot coals goes whatever Percy’s working on, sparks swirling into the air. Percy’s shoulders are high and tight, his grip on the tools unsteady, and his neck and jaw look like they’re cast in metal. “Percy, darling, that’s enough,” says Vex. “I think you should stop now.”

He doesn’t even acknowledge her as he returns to the anvil. A wave of heat sweeps over Vex, burning away the prickly annoyance, leaving behind a molten core of certainty. “Percy,” she commands, raising her voice over the clang of metal on metal. “ _Stop._ ”

And he does.

Vex draws her breath in the sudden silence of the workshop, standing straight and tall. Gaze fixed on her, Percy still loosely holds the hammer and tongs, his chest rising and falling. “Put those down,” says Vex.

With what might be a relieved sigh, Percy sets the tools down on the anvil.

Letting her voice soften a little, Vex says, “Come here.”

Percy crosses to her, and Vex reaches out and takes him into her arms, grime and all. To say he’s tense is an understatement. “Have you been working all day?” she asks, combing her fingers through his sweaty hair.

“Not _all_ day,” mutters Percy.

Sighing, Vex holds his face in her hands, scrutinizing him. There’s dust on his glasses and she takes them off, setting them carefully aside. Percy blinks rapidly at the change in his vision. “Why don’t you,” she says, soft but firm, “take off that apron and gloves, clean yourself up, and come to bed with me?”

Percy’s throat moves as he swallows, and his lips part a couple times before he manages to speak. “Yes, my lady.”

The heat in Vex centers and flares, leaving her breathless. “Good man,” she says, and rises on tiptoe to kiss him on the lips; Percy tastes like salt and charcoal. Before he can get too into it, though, she’s pulled back.

Percy keeps his gaze fixed on her as he yanks off his gloves and lifts the apron off over his head. Silver moonlight highlights strands of his hair, gleams in his eyes, and the orange glow of embers illuminates his face from below. “Here or upstairs?” he asks, husky.

There’s a bed in the workshop, set into an alcove in the wall, for those nights when Percy works into exhaustion. “Here,” says Vex, and nods towards the water barrel. “Go on.”

There’s a hint of a smile on Percy’s lips as he steps over to the barrel. He scrubs at his hands and splashes water over his face, the droplets looking like quicksilver in the light of the moon. Tossing his head back, Percy runs his hands through his hair, dampening the strands, and rolls his shoulders.

Vex is by the bed now, and she unlaces her vest, watching Percy clean himself. Keeping the leather cords wound loosely around her wrist, she lets the vest fall to the floor and bends down to take off her boots. When she straightens, Percy is there, beads of water still on his skin.

Reaching out, Vex takes hold of his shirt collar and pulls Percy in towards her for a kiss. She takes her time with it, kissing Percy deep and thorough until his lips are hot and his pulse gently thrumming in his neck. Sliding her hands down his chest, she opens his collar as far as it will go, presses a kiss over his heart.

Percy’s hands brush over her waist, strangely tentative. “Vex…”

“Hush.” Hand behind his neck, she pulls him down for another kiss, biting gently on his lower lip. Percy moans briefly, clasping her with more urgency now. Leaning her body into him, Vex moves her lips with Percy’s, shaping them like hot wax, one hand on his beating heart.

Grabbing him on the hips, she swings Percy around, pushing him onto the bed. He sits onto the furs and blankets with a thump, face tilted up towards her. Straddling his hips, Vex kneels on the bed, and grabs two fistfuls of his shirt as Percy kisses her with a sharp intake of breath. “Hands in the air,” Vex quietly commands, sitting back.

Percy hesitates, frowning –

“I said, lift your hands.” Vex looks him in the eyes, one hand on his neck, brushing her thumb over his lips. “Don’t worry, darling, I’ve got you.”

A soft breath whooshes out of Percy, and he raises his arms above his head. Sliding her hands under the hem of his shirt, the white linen bunching, Vex pushes his shirt up and off. Letting the shirt fall aside, she cups her hands around Percy’s trembling fingers, drawing his hands back down towards her. “Let it go,” she says, folding his hands flat between hers. “All right? Just for tonight.”

Percy sighs again, shaky. “I’m not sure I can.”

“Then let me,” whispers Vex.

His eyes meet hers, silver and shadowed, and he nods.

Slipping the leather cord off her wrist, Vex starts winding it around Percy’s, binding his hands together. After a few loops, she secures it with a knot, still leaving a length of cord free, and pushes Percy back until he’s lying on the bed.

Percy’s eyes shutter close, a flush spreading from his face downwards, his chest rising and falling. Leaning over, Vex stretches his arms over his head, laying him out in front of her. “Percy,” she says, “stay here for me, all right? Don’t move.” That’s one of the things they’ve learned over the past few weeks, that tying Percy down is a bad idea. But if he holds himself still…

Throat tight, Percy nods. Vex takes her time, running her hands up and down his body, over his arms, his chest, his hips, caressing his thighs, ticking over each rib, teasing his stomach, marking the lines of scars. With each pass Percy shudders, his breath deepening. When Vex dips her fingers underneath his waistband, his arms twitch downwards. “I said _stay,_ ” repeats Vex, pausing. “Do you hear me?”

“Mm.”

Vex drags her fingernails over his stomach, making him shudder. “What was that?”

“Yes,” gasps Percy.

Smiling, she leans down to kiss where her fingers have passed, Percy’s skin stretched taut over his abs. Vex takes her time with this too, savoring each press of her lips and the way Percy responds. Following the trail of sparse dark hairs, she moves down to his groin and pauses, watching, waiting.

At first, Percy lies still, only moving to breathe. But as the seconds stretch on and Vex remains where she is, not touching the growing bulge in his pants, he begins to shift uncomfortably. Vex draws her fingers over his hips again and he sucks in a breath. “Is there something you wanted, darling?” she asks sweetly, sliding the flat of her hand over his groin.

Percy groans, hips arching into her touch. “Please.”

“Please what?”

“Please keep touching me.”

Vex kisses him just above the waistband, nipping lightly at his skin, and begins unlacing his pants. Stripping off pants, underclothes, boots, Vex leaves Percy stretched out and bare, white and pink on top of the rich dark furs. Leaning down over him, she kisses Percy on the lips and he sighs happily.

“Better?” asks Vex, sliding her leg up against his inner thigh.

Rather than speak, Percy tilts his head up to kiss her again. Despite the growing intensity of the kiss and how his body strains up towards her, not once do his arms dip below where she put them.

“You’re doing very well,” she says, caressing his upper arm, and Percy blushes from his neck down to his dick.

Sitting back, Vex takes her belt off and undoes the sash she had tied around her waist underneath. It’s nice, patterned blue and orange weave, soft to touch. Percy’s gaze is fixed on her as she winds it through her fingers, and Vex eyes him back, considering where to best put the sash to use.

An idea comes to her. Leaning forward again, she lifts Percy’s head to wrap the sash around his eyes, tying the knot to the side so it won’t be under his head. Percy sucks in a breath as his vision is covered, body tensing. “All right?” asks Vex softly.

“Yeah,” says Percy, breathless but not fighting.

Vex continues undressing until she’s nude too, thankful that the forge keeps Percy’s workshop warmer than most of the lower rooms in the castle. Tucking her braid behind her shoulder, she settles herself by Percy and traces one light finger down his chest.

He gasps slightly, fingers twitching. Vex takes her hand away, waits a moment, and then brushes a touch over his shoulder. A few seconds later, she touches his stomach. And so she continues, feather-light brushes of her fingers that Percy can’t tell when or where they’ll land, until he shivers with each touch, goosebumps rising on his skin. A potent warmth blooms inside her, filling her until she feels breathless in the best possible way, watching Percy become more and more sensitive to her caresses. When she ghosts her fingers over his ribs, he full-body shudders, and when she touches Percy up on his inner thigh, he audibly gasps, head tilting back.

“Vex,” Percy pants.

“Yes, darling?” she says, and lightly touches him on the side, just under his arm.

Percy whines faintly, in the back of his throat. “I can’t – I can’t see you.”

“I know,” she soothes, “I’m right here.” Touches him on the neck.

Breathing hard, Percy shudders. There’s a slight tremble to his hands that Vex keeps an eye on. “But – I can’t –”

She waits for him to finish, but he seems to be having a hard time with words. “Can’t what?”

His wrists flex against the cords binding them. “Can’t move,” Percy manages, shifting restlessly.

“I know,” says Vex, and drags her open palm down his chest. Percy groans, back arching. “It’s all right.”

“But – but I need to –” His breath is becoming labored, and Vex bites her lip, trying to judge if she should release him.

 _Not yet,_ whispers a voice inside her, from the depths of that molten core. “Why?” she asks, still touching him, gentle, tantalizing. “It’s okay. You’re safe. You don’t need to do anything.”

“I _do_ ,” he says, but there’s uncertainty in his voice. “I do, I have to – I have to get away, I…”

Vex pauses, one hand hovering over his side at the long, jagged scar that’s been there since before she met him. “Get away from what?”

“From – from –” Percy tosses his head blindly, seeking, and he pushes at the bed with one foot. “I don’t know, I just – I _have_ to –”

Bending down, Vex gently cups his face in both her hands, and Percy draws in a sharp ragged breath at her touch. “It’s all right,” she whispers, intent on his face, and even with his eyes covered she can see the struggle in his expression. “Percy, darling, listen to me, I’m right here, you’re safe, it’s all right…”

He gasps for air, now trembling all over. “Vex’ahlia?”

“Yes, darling, it’s me.”

A faint moan escapes Percy’s lips as he leans his head into her hands. “Just you?”

There’s a note of pleading in his voice like she’s never heard before, something small and stripped-down and bare, and without even thinking she reaches up and covers his hands in one of her own, giving them a little shake. “It’s me,” Vex says, as earnestly as she can. “It’s me, I’ve got you, and nothing will hurt you, nothing at all.”

Percy exhales shakily, his breath fluttering on her skin. “Promise?”

“Yes, I promise.” And she kisses him on the lips.

Vex had meant to keep it sweet, reassuring, but at the touch of her lips on his Percy gasps as if electrified, leaning up and into the kiss with an intensity that startles Vex. He kisses her hungrily, desperately, and Vex holds tight to Percy and gives him everything she has. Percy uses his legs as leverage to press his body up into hers, hot skin, taut muscle, and when she shifts to get a better angle she brushes against his stiffening dick.

“Vex,” pants Percy, hoarse now, “please, I want you, I need you –”

Grasping the back of his head, Vex kisses him resoundingly, dragging her other hand down his arm, down his side, to feel Percy quake underneath her. Breaking away, Vex props herself up on a hand and swings a leg over Percy to straddle him, reaches down to stroke up along his length. Percy groans, throwing his head back, hips snapping up. “You got me,” she breathes, and guides his cock into her, easing herself down.

Vex gasps as she takes him in, hands clenching the thick furs under them, and as she settles in heat suffuses her entire body, sweeping over her from head to toe. Tightening around Percy, she rolls her hips, and he moans, chest heaving.

When she leans forward she can just reach to kiss him, Percy’s hips lifting into her, and Vex drags her lips down to the side of his neck, pressing blistering kisses to his skin. She starts rocking, thighs working, and Percy rocks with her. After a few attempts their rhythms sync and then everything starts to turn to molten metal, Percy beneath her, the feeling of him inside her, the throaty moans punching out of him, her own heavy breathing. The lines of Percy’s body run long and beautiful, down his arms, down his throat, down his chest, and Vex caresses him up and down as far as she can reach.

The heat inside her is building, building, building, drawing her together, becoming tighter and tighter. Panting, Vex brushes sloppy kisses over Percy’s mouth every time she rocks forward, and the heat inside her keeps coiling and coiling until she could snap –

But she holds on, focused on Percy, sweaty hair falling in her eyes. He’s flushed scarlet, sweaty, throat bared and mouth open, and Vex tightens around him with arms, with legs, with everything, rocking faster, and breathes in his ear, “I’ve got you…”

Percy cries out, back arching, spasms shooting through him, and Vex holds him close and kisses his neck and pants as orgasm ripples through her in wave after smoldering wave.

Breathing hard, Vex tucks her head against Percy’s neck, clinging to him through the last few aftershocks. For a minute both of them lie still, trembling, their breathing seeming all the louder in the echoing silence of the workshop.

Vex climbs off of Percy, pushing her hair out of her face. The scarf on Percy’s face is damp around the edges, and she gently pulls it off his head, rumpling his hair even further. His eyes are closed, eyelashes clumped together with tears.

“Percy,” says Vex softly, caressing his face. “Look at me.”

Hazy, lips parted, Percy blinks his eyes open, gazing up at Vex. “Hi,” he says, with a shaky smile.

A giddy grin spreads across Vex’s face. “Hi,” she says back, and kisses him again and again. Percy laughs breathlessly, nuzzles at her. Reaching up, Vex unties the cords from his wrists; they’ve left red indentations in his skin, more from when he strained against them than anything. Easing his arms down, Vex cradles Percy’s hands in hers and kisses him on the inside of each wrist, tenderly. “There you go – Percy, are you _crying?_ ”

“Am I?” Percy wipes at the tears on his cheeks with a trembling hand. “I suppose I am…”

“ _Darling,_ ” says Vex, with a little half-laugh of surprise, but Percy doesn’t look upset. Instead he pulls in Vex for a tight hug, hiding his warm damp face to her chest. Wrapping her arms around his shoulders, Vex kisses his hair, her body slowly relaxing into the furs. “You’re all right?” she asks hesitantly.

“Very all right,” sighs Percy. “That was… Thank you.”

Tilting his head back, Vex brushes Percy’s hair out of his face and scrutinizes his expression. He looks worn, to be sure, but also content, and completely unpossessed of any of his manic energy from earlier. Kissing him softly, she nestles close, warm and relaxed.

They should clean up, Vex thinks, but without any real energy. She continues to run her fingers through Percy’s hair, smoothing out any tangles, as his breathing gradually slows and deepens.

“Percy,” says Vex quietly, “are you asleep?”

He makes an indistinct noise, only barely awake. Percy’s expression is peaceful now, eyelashes dark and feathery on his cheeks, mouth slack, his hands gently curled and still. Twisting around, Vex grabs the edge of a blanket, pulls it over the both of them before settling back down, fitting herself to Percy. She kisses him on the cheek, tasting salt and still just a hint of soot, and lays her head down with her forehead touching his.

The moonlight is silvery, the glowing embers in the forge faintly crackling, the furs around her warm and deep. Vex closes her eyes.

\--

Vex blinks her eyes open to sunlight, bright shafts of it with dust particles dancing in the light. Stretching luxuriously, she rolls onto her back and looks to her side to see Percy, his hair tousled and eyes half-closed, watching her with a fond smile. “Good morning, dear,” he says.

Grinning, Vex scoots over to kiss him on the lips, savoring the moment. “Good morning,” she says. “How did you sleep?”

“Very well.” Percy’s hand trails up and down her back, light as silk. “And you?”

In the sunlight Percy’s hair is gleaming white, his eyes sky blue. Vex traces her fingers over his lips, Percy tilting his head up to kiss her fingertips, and she feels as light and bright as the illumination of the rising sun. “I slept wonderful.” And she kisses him again.


End file.
